Rolling blackouts

[Grinnan Barrett]

Over the last several weeks we have had a number of rolling blackouts in our area. A couple of days ago my family happened to be eating together in a local taco place when the power went out. It was not quite dark yet but inside the area became dark and very quiet. The thing that amazed me was that the small kids in the place went crazy after about 3 minutes. Crying and sobbing the kids were begging Mommy to make them turn the lights, tv and stuff back on. They were terrified to the point that the parents had to take the kids out of the place. this was two families and four kids.

What really got me was what will happen if the lights go out and do not come back on for families like this? Are most of the kids today totally unprepared for any loss of modern conveniences? The parents were about as shook up as the kids. the power was out for about half an hour before it came back on.

One guy next to us said he was not going home because he did not have a flashlight and at least here he could see by the emergency lights. that spoke volumes about where most of the people where we live go to be prepared.

[claymore]

Thats really sad and scary. I am very pleased with all the new people coming online here though. This site could (and is, I'm sure) going to save lives over and over.

[Matt In Oklahoma]

and they wonder why bad things happen to them. No flashlight huh: pocket, bags, truck, home, camper, storm cellar, on my rifles and shotguns and next to my handgun and thats just what I can think of right away.
The kids, probably be good for them snot nose tick tu... to lose it for a while and learn what an imagination is and how to use them muscles a little without some worn out PE teacher blowin a whistle at them
LOL soundin like my grumpy old man now

[Grinnan Barrett]

What is really scary is I talked to the manager over there this morning at breakfast and just asked him about the reaction to the blackouts and he said that it was the same every time. It was even worse in some adults. He had several people wanting to know why he had let the lights go off. He used the deer in the headlights analogy to describe the way some of the people reacted. There is one eatery in town that has a backup generator and that is Waffle House.

He pointed out that they can still cook (They use gas) but their cash registers and credit card machines will not work.

[Not_Yet_Prepped]

Atleast they could cook... But I would be guilty of not being able to pay. One (of many) habbit I need to break is that I never carry cash... I really must start carrying cash, I have been a Debt card spender for a long time, hard habbit to change.

[Grinnan Barrett]

Atleast they could cook... But I would be guilty of not being able to pay. One (of many) habbit I need to break is that I never carry cash... I really must start carrying cash, I have been a Debt card spender for a long time, hard habbit to change.

You know that is a really good point. I keep at least $200 with me all the time. I forget to push that with our new guys. Cash speaks when the lights go out.

[Grand58742]

You know that is a really good point. I keep at least $200 with me all the time. I forget to push that with our new guys. Cash speaks when the lights go out.

I used to carry cash in both Euro and Dollars in Europe, but haven't put more in since I got back. Thanks for reminding me to take care of that!

[Knobster]

If I carry cash it burns a hole in my pocket... a very bad habit that is tough to break!

My kids love it when the lights go out. They grab their flashlights and chase each other around the house. They each have two flashlights - a mini-mag light and a fun, glowing, light that blinks. Guess which one gets more use...

[Not_Yet_Prepped]

If I carry cash it burns a hole in my pocket... a very bad habit that is tough to break!

That is the same reason I got in the habbit of not carrying cash... I spent too much money when I did. But as we can see this may limit my means if and when the lights go out... And if they are going to be out for a long time then during the first day or so it may be very very helpful to have a few hundred in cash around to buy some later tradable items... A tradable that moved up on my list was small cheap lighters... I now pickup a pack of the cheapest per lighter every couple of visits to the store. The other day I found some around 0.33 a piece... so I wont notice the couple dollars I spent on them but one day I could notice the cans of food they get traded for or even the warming fire they start.

[Elza]

In this case it likely wouldn't do any good.

A. They couldn't get the cash register drawer open.

B. They couldn't make change even if they did.